


Next Time, Just Ask

by canthelpmyselves



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry is an adorable disaster, Gen, but it's not his fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:02:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23924320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canthelpmyselves/pseuds/canthelpmyselves
Summary: All Barry can say is, thank goodness Oliver loves Felicity so much, otherwise he'd have to get out of these situations himself.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 105





	Next Time, Just Ask

Okay. So, if Barry was being completely honest with himself, the kidnapping was pretty much his fault. 

Well, not the actual kidnapping, since technically he was the kidnap-ee, but his version of stress relief was the reason behind the kidnapping. In his defense, there were plenty of chocolates in the world. Expensive ones, cheap ones, mini ones, large ones, milky, salty, smooth…. 

Hmm. Maybe he should pick different adjectives considering the man in front of him was objectively gorgeous (even if he is a dick). His thoughts were starting to go down a road he’s pretty sure would make this whole kidnapping thing a LOT more awkward.

“Are you even listening to me?”

Barry sighed and looked around at the group in front of him. “Not really,” he admitted. He rolled his eyes at the peeved looks he got in return. “I should probably point out that this isn’t the first time I’ve been kidnapped over this.”

Leonard Snart took a step closer, one hand tapping the handle of his coldgun in a threatening manner. “Oh? Who else has kidnapped you?”

“Iris, Cisco, Felicity, my buddy Hal from Coast City, my captain’s husband, the brunette clerk at the Safeway shop, and Carrie Cutter just to name a few. It’s almost a tradition at this point.”

“What? You get kidnapped that much and don’t think to take precautions?” Mark Mardon asked incredulously.

Barry shrugged as best he could with his arms tied behind his back. “No one ever hurts me and the Arrow usually finds me pretty quick nowadays.”

“The Arrow? That Star City guy?” Mick growled.

Barry nodded. “That’s him. He knows that if he rescues me, he can usually guilt me into making his girlfriend chocolates which gets him… um…” Barry blushed as Lisa snickered and Len smirked. “Nevermind.”

“The Arrow is going to have to forego his ‘treat’ this year,” Len insisted. “There’s no way he will find you here.”

“And where exactly is here?” Barry asked hopefully.

“Someplace with a kitchen,” Lisa said firmly. “I’m going to need a list of what you need. We want those chocolates and we’re prepared to keep you here until we get them.”

Barry usually enjoyed making his super-secret-extremely-decadent-must-have chocolates for his friends and family. It was the one thing he never used his speed for, always keeping to the routine he had learned at his mom’s side as she taught him how to perfectly blend the ingredients. Over the years he had made a few changes to the actual recipe, but religiously kept to the process. 

In the beginning, he did it as a way to honor his mom’s memory, making the chocolates and using Joe’s connections to ensure they got to his dad in prison. When a sixteen year old Iris got her heart broken for the first time, Barry decided to make her some to cheer her up. It was all downhill from there. She began demanding them constantly, which led to Joe being curious enough to ask for a sample. After hearing Joe rave about the treats, Captain Singh asked if Barry accepted commissions. 

Making and selling his chocolates to the officers at the CCPD paid half his college fees. However, midway through Barry’s third year, he had to put his foot down and declared he would only make them for birthdays and holidays. The demand was starting to cut into his study time. After he graduated, he kept to the schedule, resisting all of Iris’ efforts to cajole him into being her personal confectioner.

That was his first kidnapping.

Joe took Barry’s side when he told Iris that stunt would leave her chocolate-less for her birthday. Joe got an extra large box for his.

Then he got struck by lightning.

Word got around to Cisco and Caitlin a few weeks after Barry woke up from his coma. Iris had been trying to guilt him over the nine months she was deprived, and soon he was also under pressure from his newest friends. Barry stuck to his rule though. And he punished Cisco the same way he did Iris after his kidnapping attempt.

Barry rotated his neck and settled down as comfortably as possible. “I have rules,” he stated calmly. “I only make chocolates for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Father’s Day, and Halloween. I only give half a pound at a time to anyone. No more, no less.” (Excluding Joe that once.) “I do not give chocolates to kidnappers. Ever.”

Len snorted and crouched down in front of Barry. “I don’t think you understand the position you’re in here, Barry. We’re not your family. We might not play as nice as they do.”

Barry huffed with amusement. “One, you won’t kill me. You have a deal with the Flash.”

“How do you know that?” Lisa demanded.

“My best friend is the Flash’s liaison with the CCPD,” he explained, using the same cover story they gave Singh. “Everyone at the station knows about it. That’s why they don’t rush to respond when you carry out a heist.” He turned his attention back to Len who was pouting. “Two, you can’t even hurt me. I’d be too incapacitated to make anything.”

“What if we only hurt you a little? You don’t need your feet to make chocolates,” Mick pointed out smugly.

“I need to stand at the stove, don’t I?” Barry countered with his own touch of smugness.

Mick’s expression dropped and he crossed his arms huffily.

Len exhaled heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Work with us here, kid,” he grumbled. “Lisa got a taste of your chocolates from Ramon and now she won’t rest until she gets her own batch.”

“I need them,” Lisa said firmly. “Other chocolates are ash in my mouth now. Do you have any idea what could happen if you deny a woman her chocolates?”

“Iris tried that argument. So did Felicity and Linda,” Barry replied. He chuckled briefly. “I’ve had people offer threats, bribes and sexual favors. You want to know what would have worked? Asking. If you had just asked me for them, I’d have gladly made you a batch.”

“We just have to ask?” Mark repeated with surprise. “It can’t be that easy.”

Barry grinned widely as the door behind the group was suddenly kicked in and several arrows shot into the room. Thankfully, they were some of the trick arrows Cisco had developed for Oliver, and the rogues were quickly ensnared in nets. Barry hummed under his breath as Oliver hurried over and cut through the ropes holding his arms behind his back. Once free, Barry stood and rotated his shoulders to ease the strain even as his healing factor erased the tightness in his muscles. 

“Are you okay?” Oliver asked, warily eyeing his kidnappers. 

Barry nodded and stepped over Len, who’s expression promised him frostbite in the near future. “Yeah. Hey, you got here quick.”

Oliver slung his bow over his shoulder as they walked toward the exit. “I was already on my way to Central. Tommy’s birthday is tomorrow, remember?”

Barry groaned and let his head fall back. “I forgot. Guess I’m making chocolates tonight, anyway.”

“While you’re at it…” Lisa called out.

Barry rolled his eyes as he followed Oliver out of the building. Unsurprising, they were still in Central. At least they were near a grocery store. He could stop and pick up the ingredients and hopefully have Tommy’s chocolates done before patrol.


End file.
